Facebook Nears 2 Billion Active Users Around The World, Growing Beyond Just A Social Network

February 6, 2017

When Facebook revealed their earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2016, one number stood out – 1.86 billion. That’s how many active users the site has, up from 1.59 billion just a year ago.

The social media site should hit the 2 million mark later this year – a mark no other Internet company has been able to achieve.

Facebook CFO David Wehner noted that Facebook added more users this past quarter than any other quarter since it went public in 2012. Wehner attributes the rise to a “stripped down” version of Facebook that’s currently being offered in emerging countries where high speed Internet is hard to come by.

The same report also revealed that Facebook’s mobile advertising ranks it number two in the world, behind only Google.

If there’s one thing Facebook has done right since its inception, it’s cater to people’s basic need for connection – a need to “belong” to something larger. As Facebook allows users to keep connected with friends and family, with constant updates and photos, expect the growth to continue.

Facebook’s global reach is growing every single day, and the site is becoming much more than just a social network. It’s been estimated that, good or bad, the majority of adults today get their news from Facebook. Facebook has quickly become one of the biggest media platforms in the world.

So large is the site’s reach and so wide its influence that the company actually had to introduce new measures to weed out fake news (fake stories designed simply to get clicks to a web site) after allegations arose that these stories actually influenced the American election in 2016.

Facebook is an absolute juggernaut at the moment, and they’re not slowing down. As technology becomes more and more available to parts of the world it never has before, people are going to be looking for a way to connect. And Facebook will be there.